We recently went to the dentist and my poor husband needed a host of dental work, more than he has had in his entire life combined. In researching how PWP handle long procedures while stuck in a dental chair, I learned that the additional saliva PWP produce causes dental decay at a very accelerated rate, because all of that saliva is essentially a bacterial bath on the teeth.

If your PWP chews his medications, that hurts the teeth too, as PD medications are very acidic which eats away at tooth enamel.

I read that PWP should brush and floss after every meal and at a minimum, before bedtime.

This can really creep up on you: one of the articles I read was written by a doctor who has PD and at his dental appointment he was told that he needed seven root canals. Seven. The stress of having to undergo that dental work would be pretty horrible, not to mention cost. You can buy a lot of toothpaste and floss for what one root canal costs!

Carl has had to have braces, two root canals, cleanings every three months, and is tomorrow goes in for a crown and teeth cleaning...all in the last two years! And, this man brushes with an electric toothbrush AND an electric water pick...after all meals AND before bed!